At Her Majesty's service
by viv-heart
Summary: Historical AU – 16th century; KidLaw, privateers – the Queen's pirates, Law is a nobleman who joins the crew of X Drake on his trip to haunt down and rob Spanish ships. Kid, a pirate, is forced to sail with them on their journey around the world in order to save his crew. Be prepared for adventured, romance and weirdly twisted historical events. more notes inside
1. Prologue

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

There are some things that have to be made clear about this fanfiction. I will say it only once: here. So the Author's notes will be short in the future, mostly explaining stuff if there is something more than one person wants to know. So please bear with it now.

The plot is vaguely based on real historical events, namely on Francis Drake's trip around the world.

It isn't historically accurate and a lot of things were changed or adjusted to my needs and the One Piece universe. As sources often have different opinions anyway, it really is only the route.

The characters who were named after pirates from that era became pirates from that era with their positions and everything. But I have added and changed some, who weren't there. Of course, there are some who don't have such a counterpart (like Law or Kid). Here is a list with the character's name and the historical person I have chosen as their counterpart if you want to look them up.

Nami – Elizabeth I. , Queen of England

Nojiko – Bloody Mary, Queen of England

Franky – Dr. Matthew Barker, shipbuilder

Usopp – Adam Dreyling, cannon caster

Basil Hawkins – John Hawkins, privateer, later bursar of the royal marines

X Drake – Francis Drake, privateer, politician and merchant

Spandam – Thomas Doughty, English noble

Cavendish – Thomas Cavendish, privateer

Boa Hancock- Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland

Doffy – Philip II. King of Spain

? - Duke of Medina Sidonia, Spanish noble

Shandia – native Americans

I have planned this story in two parts. If the second will be published will depend on how popular this stuff gets and how much time and energy I will have. The first part will be about 9 chapters, the second probably 4. I can promise you that the first 9 will be published for sure.

The story will concentrate mainly on plot, but it will include mostly KidLaw with hints of others, but these won't come to surface more than once or twice in the entire work.

There are parts you can skip that are not necessary for the plot but involve these other ships. I have marked them and put a warning in so you see them.

You are allowed to kick my ass if the updates take too long (more than 2 months a chapter).

Please review and tell me what you think. It really is important to get feedback and helps a lot in the case of writer's block. If you don't understand something, ask. I will try and explain it to you.

Disclaimer for the complete work: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda. The plot is inspired by historical events.

Betaed by Ventusio. Thank you for that (: (and for the title xD)

Please enjoy :)

* * *

**Prologue**

**England of the 16th century – the country prospers under Queen Nami. **

**Thanks to her, stability and wealth finally came to the people after the suffering her sister, the Bloody Nojiko, has brought over them.**

**However, this golden time wouldn't have happened without a certain group of people – without the privateers serving the Queen and fighting against Spain under King Donquixote Doflamingo.**

**The first of them, Basil Hawkins, didn't bring many treasures, gold, silver or spices. **

**No, the goods he brought were even more important – information. **

**Information on how to conquer the sea, where to sail and how to act towards the Spanish colonists. **

**It was worth even the fiasco that lead to the end of his career as a pirate and him becoming the royal marine treasurer.**

**This opened new paths and led to what became one of the most remembered events of Nami's reign.**

**On one hand, his nephew, X Drake, could step into the spotlight and become one of England's most successful men. **

**On the other, Hawkins himself could stay back and engage in planning the war against Spain, using his fortune-telling abilities.**

**As X Drake relied on those abilities more than anybody, he asked Hawkins for advice before his long planned expedition and the answer was clear:**

**He needed a man, a man who would turn the fate of the trip around.**

**And this man's name was Eustass Kid.**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Nothing." Hawkins whispered. He watched the man sitting opposite him carefully. X Drake's face was stern, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Why do your cards always predict that our ships will sink? Or that we all get killed?" the ginger muttered. "We have considered changing literally everything and still nothing happens. Only the reason for our failure changes. But it stays a failure!" his voice became louder and louder with every word, the frustration of the past weeks finally coming to the surface.

"Maybe something is simply missing." a gentle voice came from the back of the room. Robin. Of course.

"We didn't hear you enter." Hawkins was looking directly in her eyes. Something other people didn't dare to.

"I am sorry." a soft smile played on her lips.

"What were you talking about?" it was uncharacteristic for X Drake to be impatient.

"A man." the raven beauty replied, not intending to say just a word more.

* * *

"So what exactly are we waiting for?" Law glanced at Hawkins, who was staring out of the window. The two men have been summoned by the Queen herself to attend the secret meeting about X Drake's planned trip to America.

Law, a rich nobleman, an Earl to be concrete, was one of the main financial supporters of the 'expedition' and was going to take part himself, while Hawkins, previously a privateer, possessed the widest knowledge about the matter and X Drake wouldn't go to such a trip without his promise of good luck.

"The cards told me, that today the man we need will come." the blonde answered, not even turning around as the massive door opened.

Law glanced over his shoulder, but turned back to Hawkins immediately as he realized that the newcomers were just some guards.

"And who is it?" the nobleman's patience was running short by now. They have been postponing their departure for weeks already.

"We will see." Hawkins finally looked at his younger companion. "We will see."

"Your Majesty!" one of the guards called out, jumping away just in time, so Nami, the Queen of England, would pass him without running him over. She was closely followed by one of her closest counselors, Lady Nico Robin.

"Law! Hawkins!" she called out, walking up the bunch of stairs leading to her throne.

"Your Majesty?" both men bowed, showing her their respect properly. Even being her favourites, they didn't dare to risk the anger of her or any of the stricter counselors for that matter.

"Take your place." Nami commanded, surprising the two men as it always meant that she wanted to impress or intimidate a guest. But what kind of guest? Maybe the man they were waiting for?

Law's questions were answered all at once as Roronoa Zoro, a man famous as 'The pirate hunter Zoro' and the Queen's current lover, entered.

The Earl couldn't help but smirk. He could have guessed that she wanted to impress him of all people. As Nami's personal doctor together with Dr. Chopper he knew about their game more than enough.

However, his face went blank, as he realized that Zoro didn't enter alone. Four guards were following him, a chained man in between them.

Law stared at the red-haired brute, who was being forced to fall on his knees by the guards. Especially his eyes were fascinating, holding an intensity he hadn't seen before nor believed to exist.

"Oi, Nami!" Zoro addressed the Queen directly, not minding the etiquette and making the poor guards flinch.

"How many times do I have to remind you to address me properly?" the Queen glared at the man in front of her.

"Whatever." he shrugged glancing over his shoulder at the prisoner. "This man is Eustass 'Captain' Kid." he gestured towards him "He is the Irish pirate who attacked our ships on the way to the New World."  
Law felt Hawkins tense next to him and couldn't help but to frown at the new piece of information. He had heard the name before and that meant the man was quite famous and dangerous.

Silence fell over the audience room, the tension striking.

"You may leave." Nami's command towards the guards echoed through the hall. Confusion could be seen on the faces of those addressed, but they didn't dare to question or disobey the Queen.

Kid on the other hand was smirking.

It was hard to believe, that somebody so close to death would dare to provoke those, who would decide his fate, in such a manner.

"Piracy is a serious crime and all those attacking English ships shall be hung." the Queen spoke as soon as the door fell shut. "And you, you are known as the worst of all. A true heartless criminal."

"You have no right to talk about "crime"!" Kid growled, holding Nami's stare. "Nobles... Slaves... Human shops... Against the "purity" of these "upper classes", the villains of the world look positively humane in comparison. It's because the world's in the hands of scum like them that it's all screwed to hell... I mean, we're not the nicest of guys, but at least we're honest about it."*

Nobody said a word. They all stared at the chained redhead without as much as a movement, waiting for Nami's reaction. Even Zoro was holding back, waiting for further instructions.

"You are right." the Queen finally admitted, still looking at the redhead, who barely managed to hide his surprise at the statement. He didn't expect that.

"But have you ever considered, that I don't do it for myself?" Nami almost shouted. "Have you ever considered, that I didn't chose it? Have you?!" she fell silent for a moment. "I bet you haven't." the last words were barely a whisper.

Kid wanted to say something, but was immediately cut out.

"Shut up!" her voice was harsh.

Law could tell that she had a headache. What an unfortunate idiot that pirate was.

"Eustass Kid, have you ever sailed to the New World?" Robin spoke up out of the sudden, her face unreadable as always.

The redhead nodded hesitantly, finally looking at somebody besides her Majesty the Queen.

"We have found our man." Robin announced, smiling in the special way of hers

"You can't be serious!" Zoro was the first to wake up from the shock. "The most brutal and ruthless of the pirates sailing England's coast?!"  
"He is also the most successful one." Robin replied, watching Nami carefully.

The Queen seemed to be in deep thoughts, contemplating about the raven's words.

"Eustass Kid" the ginger turned directly to the pirate "Do you agree on cooperating with the royal navy and sail to the New World under my flag in exchange for your life?"

The doctor grinned for himself. It was so typical for Nami to offer something that seemed incredibly generous, like his life, and destroy the illusion after she got what she wanted. In this case, she was offering Kid his life, but not his freedom. That meant he would end in the Tower after his return. But that was simply how the politics of this time worked. Nothing more and nothing less.

"My life?" the redhead grinned at her. "Do you really believe I would sell myself just to save it?"

The scowl on Zoro's face spoke volumes about how he felt seeing the Queen being mocked by such a man.

Hawkins, who didn't say a word yet, finally decided to interfere. "If you agree to join the expedition, your crew will be set free."

Kid's eyes went wide at these words while his constant smirk disappeared for real. He should have realized sooner that the man standing behind her Majesty was Basil Hawkins, a former privateer who frequented the pubs in his hometown in the past. But he would have never guessed that the man knew about his main weakness.

"Agreed." the pirate spit out with a murderous glare.

* * *

_Warning: ZoNa, You can skip the part_

"Are you really sure about that?" Zoro asked while massaging the Queen's shoulders. They were lying in her enormously huge bed and chatting about random topics.

"I am. He is the best after all." Nami responded with a lazy grin. At first, she had been skeptical but she liked the idea better and better with every passing second. Why hadn't she come up with something like that herself? But that's why Robin was one of her most reliable counselors after all...

And Hawkins' cards finally predicting a good outcome of the trip was only the cherry on the top of the cake.

"But what about Law?" the pirate-hunter continued his questioning. The doctor was one of the few people frequenting the royal court who didn't look down on him.

"I believe the company of such a blunt and brutally honest person will do good for him. After his time in Spain he needs it more than anyone." Nami turned on her back, pulling Zoro to herself. "But now enough of that."

* * *

Not even a week later, a secret meeting, attended only by a small group consisting of the few insiders, namely Nami, Hawkins, X Drake, Zoro, Law, Kid, Robin, Robin's husband Franky who was a shipbuilder, Spandam, another noble who was financing the trip and Usopp, a cannon caster, was held to clear the final questions.

Many important things like the costs, ships, crew and the goals were discussed. They all managed to agree that they will sail with three ships, the Thousand Sunny build by Franky and two smaller ones.

The main goal of the journey, the Queen's direct order, was to draw a map of the world.

Nami herself would have wanted to draw it but her responsibilities as the Queen of England held her back and didn't allow such a dangerous trip. Especially not as there was no heir who would become the next king if she died during the journey.

This way, Kid, who had experience in drawing maps of any kind and had a wider knowledge about the matters than anybody else present, well maybe except her Majesty, was chosen to take care of the task.

Of course another aim was getting a hold on the Spanish gold as well, but with X Drake and Eustass Kid, two more than experienced pirates, everybody believed it would be fulfilled rather quickly.

As the time flew, everything could be set clear. Everything but the question of the crew, which carried the highest importance.

While the royals all insisted on getting the crew from the rows of the royal guards, the privateers and Kid believed that the best sailors could be found in the pubs of the great ports.

After hours of discussing, a final agreement was made: each party would choose a few of the best men they could find for the main ship while all the normal sailors and the crews for the smaller ships would be chosen by Hawkins.

Just in that moment, a young man, the Prince Monkey D Luffy, burst through the door, his ever present grin on his face.

"Are you planning an adventure?" he shouted "I want to go on an adventure!"

All the faces in the room went pale. Sure, the young man wouldn't have understood the real goal and he didn't have the patience nor the ability to listen while sitting behind the door all quietly for hours, but they had to fear that he would go and shout something into the world that would endanger their mission.

Quick looks were exchanged and a decision fell.

"Yes, Luffy. We are planning an adventure." Nami spoke, her eyes never leaving the young noble.

"Really? What kind of adventure? Can I join?" his eyes were literally sparkling.

Kid didn't even try to suppress his grin. He hadn't met somebody so dumb and enthusiastic at the same time for ages.

"You can." the Queen answered "Under one condition: You won't tell anybody about it."

"You are the best, Nami!" Luffy pulled her into a hug, making Spandam's jaw drop, while everybody else looked completely unimpressed. Even Kid. Her Majesty has already destroyed all illusions he had had.

"But what about Gramps?" the boy asked with a serious face as he finally let her go. Garp, Luffy's grandfather was one of the conservatives who opposed Nami's strategy and her support for privateers. Moreover, the old Lord used to fight them as a part of the royal marine in the past.

"I will take care of that." Robin promised, earning herself a hug as well.

With that, the meeting finally came to an end, leaving everybody time to think about whom they wanted to suggest as a part of the crew as it was agreed that they would go and choose the sailors the following day.

* * *

It was early afternoon when Hawkins led the five men, Law, X Drake, Kid, Zoro, Spandam, and Robin, who would choose the crew to the huge dining room the royal marines and guards used to take their meals in.

They passed dozens and dozens of tables until it was clear that he was aiming for a certain table in the back, where a single man with long blond hair was sitting all by himself.

"This is Killer." he gestured towards the blonde. "He has sailed under my command before and is one of the most skilled sailors I have ever met.-"

"Excuse me, Sirs and Lady!" a boy called from behind the group before Hawkins had the chance to continue. He had short black hair and a hat under his arm that had the word Penguin on it and two trays with food in his hands. A second boy, this time a ginger with a green hat under his arm, was following close after him, carrying another tray.

The Penguin boy placed one of the trays in front of Killer who muttered a quiet thank you and he and the other boy sat down.

"You should leave again." Hawkins spoke to the boys who exchanged confused looks before looking at Killer.

"If you are looking for men they should stay." the blonde replied, finally looking at the other and revealing the scars covering his face as he lifted his head.

While Spandam didn't look all too happy with the choice of the men and kept gesturing towards people like Morgan, who was immediately described by Zoro as an asshole of the highest caliber or Smoker who couldn't leave as he hold a position too important to be left empty or filed with somebody less skilled, the others concentrated on the men Hawkins chose.

After a short talk with Killer, Penguin and Shachi it was decided that the blonde would take the position of the quarter master on the main ship and the two others these of cabin boys.

They spend another two hours in the hall, but nobody else sparked their interest.

Looking for skilled sailors in the pubs showed itself even more difficult as Spandam refused to set a foot into the taverns and pubs Kid suggested. Even as everybody else and even Killer, who's position as quarter master made him go with them, believed they should enter one of these places. It took a lot of arguing and X Drake to tell Spandam that he could "Go fuck himself and stay behind" until the lord finally agreed.

Unfortunately, in the first two places they didn't find anybody who looked more or less reliable. In the third tavern on the other hand, two men stood out from the beginning. One of them was tall and huge, wearing a dark cape while the second had light blue dreadlocks and a lot of scars. Kid informed the others that these two men used to work on ships and in the docks for a while now and therefore had a lot of experience.

After a few words, Wire, the taller of the guys, admitted to mostly work as a rigger which got him the interest of all those who understood at least a bit of sailing.

It didn't take long and Wire and his friend, Heat, agreed to become a part of the crew. Heat could work as a rigger as well or help in the kitchen if needed.

The group left the place content to have found some reliable sailors. The optimism didn't last long as Spandam started to protest about not wanting to eat anything a "rat" cooked as they met one of Zoro's childhood-friends, Sanji.

The others had to hold the cook so he wouldn't kill the man while Zoro kept mocking his friend until Robin told him to stop.

The man agreed to join them anyway, mostly only thanks to the raven beauty pulling out her charms. But the thought of having a skilled ships cook lifted the mood again.

Just as Spandam and even Hawkins wanted to give up the search, Kid spotted a woman he knew in the mass. It was a pink-haired beauty and a pirate herself, Jewelry Bonney.

"What do you want?" she growled as the redhead seated himself opposite her.

"I am looking for crew members." he barely said the words and the woman had already spilled water into his face.

"Don't be a bitch and join us." he continued calmly. Bonney was a childhood-friend and he knew that it didn't mean anything if she did things like that.

The pink-haired woman was glaring at him. "What is in for me?" she asked, her voice full of hatred. One of the things she couldn't stand was relying on others.

"You will get a new ship as your payment." Kid grinned. "I know that you are in as much trouble as I am."

"Women on board bring bad luck." Hawkins finally came over after checking out the rest of the pub and decided to join the conversation.

"Shut up!" Bonney, Kid and to everybody's surprise even Killer barked in union.

"Some of the best sailors I have met are women." the redhead added, before turning back to Bonney. "A ship. That's what you need, right?"  
The woman looked even more pissed as her problems were presented to her once again.

"Okay. But I want to be the mate at least." her gaze never left Kid.

"Agreed." he nodded, happy with himself.

With that, all the important positions were filled with experienced people. Counting Usopp, who wanted to go along and become a brave warrior of the sea while being the ship's master gunner, the crew of the Thousand Sunny counted three nobles, seven experienced sailors and pirates and three selectively chosen newbies together with about fifty simple crew members.

* * *

*Actual Quote from the series

* * *

**AN:** People on board + positions:

Bonney - mate

Killer – quarter Master

Pen - cabin boy for Law

Shachi – cabin boy for Spandam

Sanji - ships cook

Wire - rigger

Heat - rigger

X Drake -capt

Kid- sailing master, carpenter

Law- surgeon

Luffy – powder monkey

Usopp - master gunner

Spandam - guest

* * *

This chapter was betaed by Ventusio. Thank you (:


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